Artist’s Day Date in the current year: December 8, 2024

In a broad sense, the word “artist” is used to denote any person engaged in creating art and practicing the arts. However, the common usage in everyday speech is a practitioner in the visual arts. In the context of Artist’s Day and the meaning of the word “artist” in the Russian language, this includes drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, design, the applied arts, and the decorative arts.

Drawing and painting are the oldest forms of visual art; they go back tens of thousands of years. The human need to create art is a consequence of our intelligence, and prehistoric art is a proof of that. Although cave art (cave paintings, petroglyphs, rock reliefs, earth figures) may seem primitive to a modern observer, it laid the foundation of the present-day visual arts. Of course, the visual arts have evolved greatly since those old days, and modern artists have vast theoretical knowledge and a wide variety of tools and techniques at their disposal.

Artist’s Day was initiated by the Art of the Nations of the World, an international association founded by the Russian artist and philanthropist Nikolay Kornilov, who devoted his life to supporting the arts. In 1998, he founded the Art of the Nations of the World and the NIKOR gallery, and in 2007, his association founded the Artist’s Day. The first official celebration of Artist’s Day took place at the Mytishchi Art Gallery.

On the occasion of Artist’s Day, museums, galleries and other cultural institutions throughout Russia host exhibitions, installations, performances, workshops, en plein air painting sessions, and many other events where artists can display their works and get proper appreciation and recognition. And even if there are no Artist’s Day events near where you live, you can still celebrate the holiday by attending an art gallery or a museum, buying a painting, or commissioning an artist.